Hyundai Motor will again enforce the Wi-Fi (wireless Internet) restriction during the operation of production lines that have been at odds with labor unions.
As the reckless use of Wi-Fi while on duty is not only out of line with global automotive industry standards, but also as consumers have doubts about quality, management is showing strong signs.
According to Hyundai Motor on Dec. 24, access to Wi-Fi at its Ulsan plant has been restricted since midnight on the same day.
Hyundai previously took measures to use Wi-Fi, which was previously allowed 24 hours a day, only during meals and breaks, to prevent safety accidents while on duty on Dec. 9.
However, after the union strongly protested the move by refusing to work overtime over the weekend, saying it was a violation of the collective agreement, the management and labor union decided to hold an emergency steering committee meeting to hold consultations on the hours of Wi-Fi operation.
As a result, the management withheld the Wi-Fi restriction, and the labor union also withdrew its refusal to work overtime, prompting the "Wi-Fi war" to go into a truce.
Since then, labor and management have held several rounds of discussions over the time to use Wi-Fi, but failed to reach an agreement.
"Many global carmakers are prohibited from bringing in mobile phones when they enter production lines," an industry source said. "The use of Wi-Fi during assembly work is not suitable for global standards," he said. "To overcome the chronic 'high cost and low efficiency' problem, we need a sense of changing things from small ones."
